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Thunderbird Club

Sound twice as good if you use a half dollar.

Why stop at twice?

upload_2018-10-30_11-26-4.jpeg


4X baby!
 
Yeah, the one in the pic is the tapered case, but I'm getting conflicting reports on whether or not that's the right/wrong case. One of the previous iterations of the Epi Pros that I had did have the rectangular case, and I wish I had held on to it so I'd know for sure, but I guess we'll just wait and see. Worst "case" scenario (HAR) is that it doesn't fit and it goes back, but for now I'll choose to be optimistic.
Maybe you'll get lucky. The first one I bought - for the Classic IV Pro - was pictured as being rectangular, and showed up tapered. When I bought the Vintage Pro, I ordered the case at the same time, and crosschecked the number with the Epiphone site. (the same model and UPC shown on their site today) It came in as a tapered case again. The reason the bass has to go in headfirst is that there is a lip of fabric, etc. where the lining of the case is stitched in around the edge, so you have to go underneath that first. Once you get past the lip it's a good fit. If you've ever had a Bicentennial, you know that the case for that is a sloppy fit. The last thing you'll want is the bass sliding around on the headstock end.
 
I just got thinking randomly about tone, aside from using a quarter as a pick and all. It's funny how few people notice the bass tone very much unless you are right out front. Even then, about half the audience thinks it's another guitar and don't make the connection. I'm somewhat guilty of chasing tone, but perhaps not as much as others who have a specific sound in their minds. When it comes to guitar sounds, there's certain sounds I want to be able to get on demand. Same with cymbals, believe it or not. Bass is a little different. I built the P-Bird to get a very specific sound, which it completely nails, especially through a 360. The upright is supposed to sound like itself, and now that the ToneHammer is out of the signal chain, it sounds like it should through either the little combo or a 360. Other than that, it's been a matter of listening to the bass and seeing what it does and figuring out how to use that sound. Pedals are as much for amusement and exploration as for a specific sound. I didn't get along with compressors for bass very well. It's probably a heavy handed technique problem. Envelope followers are a blast, and I'm having a lot of fun with an octaver that produces both high and low octaves at whatever volume you decide you want. It's fun to see what those things do and let them show me where to take things, rather than the other way around. Playing with a pick and using different strings has some of the same exploratory effect. It's just flat fun to let it all happen, rather than be locked into an elusive idea.
 
I just got thinking randomly about tone, aside from using a quarter as a pick and all. It's funny how few people notice the bass tone very much unless you are right out front. Even then, about half the audience thinks it's another guitar and don't make the connection. I'm somewhat guilty of chasing tone, but perhaps not as much as others who have a specific sound in their minds.

So many musicians are chasing their tone. Of the audience, the majority are not musicians and don't care about your tone. They are thinking; that guy can sing/play well and/or they have chosen great songs to play. Or, if they are listening to me - isn't that guy done yet?

Of the portion that do care about tone, some of them care about what you are using to get your tone. The remainder (probably the smart ones) care about what you are doing to get your tone.

The take home message though is that most of the audience don't care.
 
I just got thinking randomly about tone, aside from using a quarter as a pick and all. It's funny how few people notice the bass tone very much unless you are right out front. Even then, about half the audience thinks it's another guitar and don't make the connection. I'm somewhat guilty of chasing tone, but perhaps not as much as others who have a specific sound in their minds. When it comes to guitar sounds, there's certain sounds I want to be able to get on demand. Same with cymbals, believe it or not. Bass is a little different. I built the P-Bird to get a very specific sound, which it completely nails, especially through a 360. The upright is supposed to sound like itself, and now that the ToneHammer is out of the signal chain, it sounds like it should through either the little combo or a 360. Other than that, it's been a matter of listening to the bass and seeing what it does and figuring out how to use that sound. Pedals are as much for amusement and exploration as for a specific sound. I didn't get along with compressors for bass very well. It's probably a heavy handed technique problem. Envelope followers are a blast, and I'm having a lot of fun with an octaver that produces both high and low octaves at whatever volume you decide you want. It's fun to see what those things do and let them show me where to take things, rather than the other way around. Playing with a pick and using different strings has some of the same exploratory effect. It's just flat fun to let it all happen, rather than be locked into an elusive idea.
Totally agree. There's a sound I (vaguely) remember in my head that I've been trying to duplicate for over 30 years. Between my memory and my hearing fading away, I'll prolly never find it-or recognize it if I did find it.:banghead: (just for info's sake, EB3, neck pup only into '63 7ender top/bottom Bassman w/ 2x12s). My current Rumble 200c is close(?)-I think.:confused:
 
So many musicians are chasing their tone. Of the audience, the majority are not musicians and don't care about your tone. They are thinking; that guy can sing/play well and/or they have chosen great songs to play. Or, if they are listening to me - isn't that guy done yet?

Of the portion that do care about tone, some of them care about what you are using to get your tone. The remainder (probably the smart ones) care about what you are doing to get your tone.

The take home message though is that most of the audience don't care.

While I think this holds true for the audience, there's something to be said in how *I* respond to my own tone, as it's frustrating when it's not as good as I want it to be, and that will often affect my performance, which the audience would notice.

I think as long as you are 90%+ on liking the tone you have, you are probably not going to see much degradation in performance, but if something sounds outright bad to you, then I think it might.
 
So many musicians are chasing their tone. Of the audience, the majority are not musicians and don't care about your tone. They are thinking; that guy can sing/play well and/or they have chosen great songs to play. Or, if they are listening to me - isn't that guy done yet?

Of the portion that do care about tone, some of them care about what you are using to get your tone. The remainder (probably the smart ones) care about what you are doing to get your tone.

The take home message though is that most of the audience don't care.
Yup, you're 'that guy' with the big guitar.
 
While I think this holds true for the audience, there's something to be said in how *I* respond to my own tone, as it's frustrating when it's not as good as I want it to be, and that will often affect my performance, which the audience would notice.

I think as long as you are 90%+ on liking the tone you have, you are probably not going to see much degradation in performance, but if something sounds outright bad to you, then I think it might.
Yup, again. I have one bass amp that I can't get "right", no matter what I do EQ-wise, so it stays in my van as an emergency backup-or 'ballast'.
 
Totally agree. There's a sound I (vaguely) remember in my head that I've been trying to duplicate for over 30 years. Between my memory and my hearing fading away, I'll prolly never find it-or recognize it if I did find it.:banghead: (just for info's sake, EB3, neck pup only into '63 7ender top/bottom Bassman w/ 2x12s). My current Rumble 200c is close(?)-I think.:confused:
Well at least you can identify what you're after!